Timing device for washing machines



y 1935? G. B. KEIL 2,000,448

TIIIING DEVICE FOR WASHING MACHINES Filed Jan. 17, 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 v I NVENTOR BY ATTORNEY y 1935- a. B. KEIL 2,000,448

TIMING DEVICE,FOR WASHING MACHINES Filed Jan. 17, 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet 2' INVENTOR BY A e ATTORNEY Patented May 7, 1935 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,000,448' TIMING DEVICE FOR WASHING DIACHINES Application January 17, 1931, Serial No. 509,395

2 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in washing machines of the electrically operated type and more particularly has reference to timing mechanism associated with such machines for regulating the duration of operation of the same.

It is frequently desirable in the use of washing machines of the type commonly employed in the washing of clothes to provide for a predetermined period of operation of the machine which under normal circumstances has been found sufficient to produce the desired results. At the same time the control over the operation of the machine should be flexible so as to permit of operations of variable duration depending upon the nature and quantity of the articles being washed. One batch of clothes may be properly handled by the machine in a period of say five minutes while other batches of clothes may require ten or fifteen minutes operation of the machine to effect the desired cleansing action.

A primary object of the present invention has been to provide a simple and effective automatic control mechanism which may be adjusted to predetermine periods of operation, of variable duration. By the provision of the means contemplated it is possible to set the machine into operation and then leave it after suitable adjustment of the control mechanism. At the end of the selected period of operation the machine will be automatically shut off and the operator may return at any time to remove the contents of the tub. The devices which the invention has in view are not only simple of construction and easy to adjust but they are readily applicable to washing machines of the types now being commercially produced.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will appear from the detailed description of an illustrative embodiment of the same which will now be given in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 is an elevational view partly in section disclosing the principal portions of the timing device.

Figure 2 is a horizontal, sectional view through the timing mechanism taken along the broken line 22 of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is an end view' of the controlling switch and shows diagrammatic connections to the driving mechanism of the machine.

Figure 4 is a detail view in section taken along the line 4-4 of Figure 1, and

Figure 5 is a sectional detail view taken along the line 55 of Figure 1.

Referring now to the drawings, the washing machine to which the control mechanism of the present invention is applied may be of any conventional form and may, for example, include an outer casing l surrounding an inner tub element ll. Between the tub and the outer casing there may be provided a vertically extending shaft [2 which at its lower end is connected in the usual way to the operating mechanism of the machine and at its upper end is adapted to be connected to the wringer mechanism. A separate frame or plate l3, on which is mounted the major portion of the control mechanism, may be suitably mounted between the casing H! and the tub H as by securing the same, by means of screws M, to a separate casting 15 which is attached by screws Hi to the outer casing Ill. The casting I5, as shown, may suitably be provided with an opening through which the shaft I2 extends.

Near the bottom of the frame l3 there may be provided a horizontal extension forming a suitable bearing I1 adapted to support a shaft l8. At the right end of the shaft there may be secured a toothed wheel or pinion I!) which is adapted to cooperate with a tooth or projection carried by a collar 2| secured to the shaft l2 in a suitable position by means of a setscrew 22.

At its opposite end the shaft l8 may be provided with a collar 23 which is secured to the shaft by means of a set-screw 24 and carries a spring-pressed ball 25, extending from its inner face. This ball is adapted to cooperate with any one of a series of depressions 26 formed in a collar 21 secured to an extension of the bearing H. The depressions 26 are equal in number to the teeth carried by the wheel l9 and are so located that upon turning of the wheel a single tooth space, the ball will be carried from one depression to the next. It will be clear that upon each revolution of the shaft 12 the projection 20 will engage a tooth of the wheel [9 and rotate the latter through the distance of a single tooth space and will cause the ball detent to shift in the manner indicated from one depression to the next. The detent will serve to prevent any overthrow of the wheel l9 and shaft l8.

At an intermediate point of the shaft l8 the, is provided a worm 28 adapted to cooperate with a worm wheel 29 keyed or otherwise secured to a sleeve 30. This sleeve, as shown in Figure 2, is loosely mounted upon a stud 3| carried by the frame l3. A knob 32 is formed at the forward end of the sleeve and a graduated dial 33 may suitably be provided adjacent the knob. The face of the dial, which may, as shown, be arranged on a beveled surface, may be calibrated in any suitable way, preferably to designate minutes. The graduations on the dial may for this purpose be adapted to cooperate with a suitable index carried by an annular member 34 surrounding the dial and mounted in an opening in the outer casing.

At any suitable point, preferably on the inner face near its periphery, the worm wheel 29 may be provided with a pin or stud 35 which in the course of rotation of the worm wheel may be brought into cooperation with an arm 36 of a bell-crank lever pivoted on a stud 31 extending from the frame l3. The opposite arm of the lever may carry a contact element 38 adapted, in one position of the lever, to cooperate with a pair of spring contact elements 39 and 40 (Figure 3). These elements may in turn be connected in series with any suitable source of current 4| and the motor 42 which serves to drive the-machine.

As best shown in Figure l, the arm 36 of the lever may be provided with a substantially rightangled bend and at the elbow thus formed there may be pivotally connected a pin 43 which is adapted to cooperate with an opening in a bracket 44 carried by the frame l3. A spring 45 surrounding the pin 43 and compressed between the bracket 44 and a shoulder at the upper end of the pin serves to hold the lever in either the full line position shown in Figure l or in the dotted line position shown therein. It will be understood that in the movement of the lever from one position to the other it passes through a dead center position with reference to the spring 45 and as soon as it passes beyond this dead center it will be thrown by the spring into the other extreme position.

Suitable manual means may be provided for rocking the lever to carry the contact element 38 into and out of cooperative relation with the contacts 39 and 40. For this purpose a finger-piece 48 may be pivotally mounted by means of a stud or trunnions 41 carried by an extension of the frame IS. The inner end of the finger-piece or lever 46 may carry a pin 48 adapted to cooperate with an elongated slot 49 in the arm 36 of the lever. It will be clear from the construction shown that as the exposed end of the fingerpiece is depressed, the pin 48 will be lifted to rock the arm 36 in a counter-clockwise direction in Figure 1 and thus carry the contact 38 downwardly to close the switch. Movement of the finger-piece in the opposite direction will correspondingly serve to open the switch.

To permit adjustment of the dial 33 and the pin 35 with reference to the driving worm 28 and the switch arm 36, the dial is adapted to be shifted outwardly along the supporting stud 3| to disconnect the worm wheel 29 from the worm 28. To permit disengagement of the parts by the axial sliding of the worm wheel, the latter is formed with straight ended teeth, as shown in Figure 2, rather than with teeth having curved ends. When the worm and worm wheel are disconnected in this way the dial and connected parts may be rotated to any desired position, placing the pin 35 in any selected relation to the switch arm 36'. When the dial pin has thus been properly set, the knob 32 may be pressed inwardly to again connect the worm and worm wheel.

A spring-pressed ball 50 carried by the sleeve 30 and the hub of the worm wheel 29 may 00- operate with either one of a pair of grooves 5| and 52 formed in the stud 3| to hold the worm wheel in either connected or disconnected position with relation to the worm.

A typical operation of the control mechanism may be as follows:

The knob 32 may first ,be pulled outwardly tq disengage the worm and worm wheel and the knob may then be rotated until any desired graduation on the dial 33 is brought into line with the index on the member 34. If it is desired to continue the operation of the machine for a period of, say, fifteen minutes, the graduation l5 will be brought into line with the index. This will serve to carry the pin 35 a corresponding distance in a clockwise direction, Figure 1, away from the lever arm 36. The knob 32 may now be pressed inwardly to connect the worm and worm wheel and the machine may be set into operation by depressing the finger-piece 46, which will serve to close the switch formed by the elements 38, 39 and 40. The motor 42 will now drive the washing machine and the wringer shaft l2 and the latter upon each rotation will turn the wheel I 9 through one tooth space. Upon continued rotation of the shaft l2, the worm 28 will drive the worm wheel 29 in a counterclockwise direction (Figure 1) until the pin 35 engages and depresses the switch arm 39. This will serve to open the switch and stop the machine. It will be understood that the relal9 and operating finger 20 may be suitably chosen to permit calibration of the dial 33 to indicate,

definite time intervals, such as minutes. The motor 42 under normal conditions will be driven at a sufficiently constant speed to permit relatively accurate timing of the operation in the way indicated.

While an illustrative form of the invention has been disclosed in considerable detail, it will be understood that numerous variations may be made in the component parts of the device and in their inter-relation without departing from the general spirit and scope of the invention.

What I claim is:

1. In a machine of the class described, a power driven shaft, means for setting the machine into operation, means for controlling said first mentioned means to stop the machine, reduction gearing between said shaft and said controlling means for driving the latter at a reduced speed, means/"for disconnecting said controlling means from said shaft to permit adjustment of said means to determine the period of operation of the machine, and means manually operable at will for controlling the operation of said first mentioned means independently of said adjust able means. a

2. In a machine of the class described, a power driven shaft, means for setting the machine into operation, a slidable and rotatable member adapted to control said means for arresting the operation of the machine after a predetermined period, connections between said shaft and said member for rotating the same to determine the period of operation of the machine, means for sliding said member to disconnect the same from said shaft, said member being adjustable when disconnected to vary the period of operatiori'of the machine, and means manually operable at will for controlling the operation of said first mentioned means independently of said member.

GUSTAV B. KEIL. 

